In the bread-making process it is known to add bread-improving and/or dough-improving additives to the bread dough, the action of which, inter alia, results in improved texture, volume, flavor and freshness of the bread as well as improved machinability of the dough.
In recent years a number of enzymes have been used as dough and/or bread improving agents, particularly enzymes which act on components present in large amounts in the dough. Various amylases have been suggested for retarding the staling by the addition to dough. For example, WO 91/04669 discloses the use of a maltogenic alpha-amylase from B. stearothermophilus to retard staling. This enzyme is commercially available from Novozymes A/S under the tradename NOVAMYL®. WO 00/59307 describes the use of an exo-amylase which hydrolyzes starch to form mainly maltotriose to retard staling. GB 2417184 describes processes for preparation of wheat tortilla dough and wheat tortilla comprising an exoamylase, amongst other ingredients.
However, baked products such as flat bread provide additional challenges in retarding staling. For example, traditional amylases and NOVAMYL®-type amylases require longer baking times to allow sufficient starch modification and are therefore less amenable to the rapid baking time of flat bread.
It is therefore desirable to have alternative ingredients that can provide the above-mentioned functionality.
It is an object of the present invention to provide such alternatives.